A carridge made its way down the hill, one would be able to see the beach, and the ocean beyond, its waves cresting and breaking against the Innsknee shore.
The carridge came to a stop about thirty feet from the water. If there were witnesses around, they would see the Emperor Belos step out the carridge. He was carrying another man over his shoulder, unconscious, gagged, and bound.
As Belos carried the man over to the water, he stopped for a moment to speak with the Golden Guard.
"Turn it around and face the other way. If you try to leave without me, I'll see to it that you have a cell in the deepest part of Arkham. Do you understand?"
"Perfectly, sir."
Hunter moved, the carridge began to turn the opposite direction. Belos grunted as he continued towards the ocean, hauling the still-unconscious man with him.
Hunter sat still, facing away from the beach and listening to the faint sounds of the waves. He heard Belos take a few steps into the water, and then, a larger splash as something emerged from the sea.
The Emperor began to mutter in conversation with someone. But as far as Hunter knew, there was no one else around. He couldn't make out any words that were being spoken, but he heard low, grunting replies from whoever Belos was talking to. Another splash was heard, then quiet footsteps heading back towards the carridge.
Belos had returned, but he was no longer carrying his human burden. Instead, he was holding eight or nine pieces of what looked like gold. He climbed into the back of the carridge once more.
"Let's go," he said.
Hunter flicked the reigns, and began to head back towards town.
The marketplace in Inssknee had dwindled quite a bit ever since Imp city had cut off all trade with them. Where there were once dozens upon dozens of merchants that could be found selling their wares, there was now merely a handful. As it turned out, the Pride Ring was the only remaining trade partner with Innsknee, and after the Emperor's foolish actions against Alistor, all ties between them were severed, and Innsknee began to suffer great economic hardship.
As the citizens mingled about and checked out the few booths and vendors, they all heard the clanging of a small bell. People looked in the direction of the town square, and they saw the police commissioner Jim Gordon.
"Ok ok, can i have everyone's attention"
Now, all eyes were on commissioner Gordon.
"As decreed by our Emperor, henceforth all food will be rationed by an additional five percent. Additionally, water rations will now only be distributed on Tuesdays and Saturdays."
A few quiet groans could be heard from the people in response to the bad news; they already had barely enough to eat, and as Innswich was surrounded by ocean, freshwater was scarce.
A rotund man from the crowd, who had had quite enough, spoke up, his face red with anger.
"Oi! Why don't you tell the Emperor that if he wants us all to starve, he can go fu-"
Three guards came out of nowhere. They tackled him to the ground, and began to beat him with their clubs. It took them four blows to render the man unconscious, and a gun shot from Gordon to kill him.
The rest of the citizens went about their business. Most of them had adjusted to the new laws.
-The owl house-
Eda sat in the lounge area of the Owl House, absentmindedly sipping at some tea, the Owl lady was thinking to herself. Luz and King were watching some tv show .
Lilith was in the kitchen, Amity stood on the balcony on the balcony, she looked to her right, from her vantage point, she could see past the city, the beach, and then the sea and Innsknee.
The waves were unusually large today.
